THE LITTLE SCIENTISTS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED AND FUNDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THROUGH THE NATIONAL INNOVATION AND SCIENCE AGENDA.

Become a certified Little Scientists House

We also offer the opportunity to become a certified Little Scientists House. All early childhood services participating in our Little Scientists Program that are committed to early STEM and scientific exploration can apply.

Successful applications are rewarded with a Little Scientists Certification plaque, demonstrating to parents and the community, that their service is committed to inquiry-based learning and Early STEM. It also promotes the service as a progressive and active learning environment incorporating the concepts of inquiry-based learning, metacognition and co-construction.

To become a Little Scientists House your service has to have a minimum of 2 educators that have attended a minimum of 2 workshops each. You also have to fill out and send in an application that meet a range of criteria, including the documentation of an early STEM project by the children in your service. Application details are outlined below.

HOW TO APPLY

STEP 1

Before start, check if your service is eligible and meets the criteria to apply for certification:

Little Scientists workshop attendance: At least two teachers or educators at your service have attended two Little Scientists workshops each.

Research in everyday life: STEM learning content is an integral part of the everyday life of children at your service.

Project documentation: All relevant projects, observations and experiments are documented.

The criteria are further expanded on below. If the three outlined criteria are met in your service, you can request the Little Scientists House application form. To learn more about our Little Scientists House criteria, please read this brief document.

STEP 2

Apply by completing the Certification Questionnaire

If you are ready to start your Little Scientists House certification, please contact us via email and let us know you would like to receive the Little Scientists House Certification Questionnaire. Please email directly to: hayley@littlescientists.org.au

Please note that the first part is to be filled in by the Service Director. The other two are to be filled out by the main Little Scientists educator or teacher. Each part takes approximately 25 minutes to fill in:

Questions to management:
In this part you will find for instance questions about the pedagogical concept/philosophy underpinning your service and about the training sessions attended.

Questions to educators:
The educators who are largely responsible for implementing STEM content in your service should answer the second part of the questionnaire. These questions relate for example to existing materials for research activities, as well as to the coordination of STEM learning content within the team.

Questions about the practical case study:
This is the most extensive part of the application. It consists of questions about your practical STEM case study and should be filled out by the educators involved in it. Practical examples can be long-term projects or project-oriented activities with STEM learning content.

Costs:
For the Certification Application a fee of $135,- applies.

This includes the evaluation of the application by a qualified judging panel as well as the Little Scientists House plaque which will be awarded to your service and will widely display your commitment to providing the children in your care with STEM education in the early years.

You will be invoiced for the payment when we receive the 3-part Certification Questionnaire.

STEP 3

Await our feedback

Little Scientists reviews your application using four established quality criteria. The four areas are weighted differently, with a strong emphasis on process quality. As part of this review Little Scientists will also provide you with comprehensive feedback.

STEP 4

Receive a Little Scientists House plaque

If your application meets the quality criteria and is approved by Little Scientists, your service is awarded Little Scientists House for the following two (2) years. You are then officially certified as a Little Scientists House and can publicly share your success with the children, parents, your relevant network, cooperating partners and other supporters. You will receive a Little Scientists House plaque that can be placed in a visible location to demonstrate to the outside world the commitment of your service to STEM education.